Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently took a stand against biased media manipulations, particularly pointing the finger at CBS News. After she gave an interview on their program ‘Face the Nation,’ she accused them of distorting the reality through strategic editing. Especially concerning was the fact that the context and crucial details regarding the administration’s decision to deport Salvadoran citizen and known MS-13 gang member, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, were omitted.
Noem outspokenly contested CBS’s tainted representation of her interview via a social media post. The Secretary presented side-by-side comparisons of clips shown on TV and the ones posted online, revealing the glaring differences between the two. The substantial feedback from the audience was also instrumental in calling out the network’s underhanded editing tactics, leading to a change in CBS’s interview policy for greater transparency.
CBS owes a blatant disregard of journalistic ethics to its viewership of approximately 2.3 million. This has further strained its credibility, given the disparity between what they aired and what they posted online. The crucial information that CBS decided to remove involved Noem’s exposition about Garcia’s nefarious activities and the potential threat he posed to American society.
In the TV version, the Secretary was shown stating, ‘One thing that we will continue to do is to make sure he doesn’t walk free in the United States of America.’ However, what they omitted was Noem’s further description of Garcia, indicating that he was a known human smuggler, a wife-beater, and a perverted individual who solicited explicit photos from minors.
CBS conveniently left out Noem’s statement exposing Garcia’s deplorable actions, ‘And even his fellow human traffickers told him to knock it off, he was so sick in what he was doing and how he was treating small children,’ Noem stated. ‘So he needs to never be in the United States of America. And our administration is making sure we’re doing all that we can to bring him to justice.’
Seemingly unbothered by the allegations, CBS defended their devious editing, insisting that the full version of the interview was available online in both video and transcript format. Critics rapidly retorted, stating that what CBS broadcasts on air reaches a much wider audience compared to their online formats.
CBS’s underwhelming backtrack does little to resolve the underlying issue of manipulated narratives. They pledged to conduct only live or live-to-tape interviews in the future, barring national security or legal restrictions. However, this faux remorse is nothing new for biased media entities.
Duplicity from CBS has been a matter of legal concern in the past. In 2024, former President Donald Trump sued CBS along with its parent company, Paramount. The contention was over CBS’s decision to edit an interview with then Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, on ’60 Minutes’, specifically Harris’ incoherent response regarding Israel.
The editing involved slicing out Harris’ inarticulate answer about Israel and replacing it with an unrelated comment, misleading the viewers. Trump’s legal team made a robust argument about this biased practice, labeling it a violation of fairness rules under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
This was not merely an affront to journalistic ethics, but also infringed upon the integrity of the electoral process. Harris, known for her continuous incoherence, was strategically shielded by the network, constituting deceptive trade practices. The case ended with Paramount settling the dispute with the then president in July for $16 million, a levy paid for distorting the truth.
The settlement amount, interestingly, was earmarked to fund Trump’s future presidential library. Yet, it is important to remember that this narrative is far from being an isolated incident. It’s merely a tight snapshot of the pervasive bias and distortion rampant in the mainstream media, particularly targeted towards conservative voices and leaders.
As opposed to taking a course correction, these biases are presented as the norm. Yet history serves to remind us that turning a blind eye to reality or distorting it to suit a narrative won’t stand the scrutiny of time. Noem’s call for greater transparency may have been heard, but it is yet to be seen how long CBS stands true to this propose change.
The media carries the important role of a watchdog on behalf of the public. Manipulative editing and biased narratives are not just an affront to journalistic integrity but detrimental to a democratic society at large. As consumers of news, we must critically analyze and challenge the information we receive, not simply accept the narratives pushed by a biased media.
The post Homeland Security’s Noem Exposes CBS’s Distorted Factual Presentation appeared first on Real News Now.
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